Apparatus for treating box-toe pieces.



W. A. KNIPE & T. McKlNNEY. APPARATUS FOR TREATING 50X TOE PIECES. APPLICATION FILED 05021. 1914.

11116111611 Jan. 11,1916.

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nNrrn s'rariis It i WILLIAM A. KNIPE AND TIMOTHY MCKINNEY, or WARD HILL, MASSACHUSETTS; SAID MCKINNEY ASSIGNOR 'ro SAID KNIFE.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING BOX-TOE PIECES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 11, 1916.

Application filed December 21, 1914.. Serial No. 878,280.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, \VILLIAM A. KNIFE and 'lIMOTHY MCKIN EY, citizens of the United States, residing at WVard Hill, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Apparatus for Treating Box-Toe Pieces, of which the following is a specification;

In the manufacture of shoes having cutoff vamps to which a textile toe piece or butter is attached, it is desirable, as described in the patent to Knipe, No. 1,127,641, to saturate the portion of the piece within the line of attachment to the sole, with a substance which is freely liquid when heated, and stiffens when cooled, leaving the edge portion beyond said line of attachment unsaturated, to obviate various objections which arise when the entire toe piece is saturated, such as the difficulty of securing a firm hold thereon with the lasting pincers.

The object of our invention is to provide a simple and practical apparatus for. saturating the inner portion only, of a textile box toe piece, or butter, preferably after I piece after saturation.

it has been attached to thetoe end of a cutoff vamp, with a'substance which is liquid when hot, and stiffens when cool, so that its edge portion will be left unsaturated, or in its ordinary condition. We accomplish this object, )rimarily, by providing an absorbent pad having a face of the size and shape of the portion to be saturated, saturating the pad with the stiffening substance while heated to a liquid state, and then pressing the pad onto said portion to be saturated. In

'performing this operation with a simple pad, however, it was ascertained that the stiffening substance hardenedi so rapidly, that it did not penetrate the cloth or canvas of which the tip piece was made, to an appreciable extent, but merely thinly coated its surface, so that suflicient material was r not incorporated with the cloth to make it as stiff as desired, when cold. It'was-further ascertained that the substance would accumulate on the pad each time it was used,

so that the pad became thickly coated, and

enlarged, and as the substance in the pad soon hardened, the pad soon lost all of its absorbent qualities and became solid and unyielding.

A further object of our invention is to obviate these difiiculties, which object we have accomplished by providing a thin flat pad of suitable shape and so supported that .ed by the pad, so that the liquid will be caused to flow completely through the cloth, without becoming cooled thereby, and the portion to which the pad is applied will become as thoroughly saturated as if it had been dipped in a receptacle containing the heated liquid, while the adjacent portion will remain unsaturated.

An embodiment of means for performing this process, is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure l is a side elevation partly in section, of such means. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is an edge view of the pad and its heating plate. Fig. 4 is a plan view thereof.- Fig. 5 is a plan view of a tip According to our invention, we-provide a holder, or casing a, preferably composed of some light metal, as aluminum, the side wallsthereof being shaped to correspond to the outlineof the portion 'of ;.the tip piece which is to be saturated, and being provided with a recess a in its under side. A flat pad I), of uniformthickness, is disposed .in-

said recess,.said padbeing preferably composed of felt or other highly absorbent ma-" terial, and exactly corresponding, in contour, to the outline of the tip piece portion to be saturated. A brass plate 0 is attached in the casing,:forming the bottom'o'f said.

recess.

A chamber 0: is formed in the casing above the partition a and'an electricheater, or heatunit e is arranged therein, so that it rests directly onthe partition a said chamber being filled with a packing of asbestos f, or other suitable material. A cover 9, hav- "ing ahandleh connected thereto, is secured to the upper end of the casing, a suitable heat insulating tube a being provided therebetween, and a flexible electric cable 7' is extended through the handle into the heat unit 6, said cable being connected to a suitable source of electric supply. As thus arranged, when the electric current is turned on, the partition a and the plate 0, and also the side walls of the casing, will be heated by the electric heater 6, and, as the pad I) is of uniform thickness and is engaged throughout its entire uppersurface by (said plate 0, and'at its edges by the casing walls, it becomes thoroughly and uniformlyheated.

In using the device, .the stiffening substance is heated in a suitable tank, :so that it is freely liquid, and then the protruding portion of the pad is dipped into the liquid,

:so that it becomes saturated therewith. .The

textile box-toe piece a2, or butter, having been previously connected to the tip end of the leather vamp 7 by sewing, as indicated in Fig. 5, the *usual manner,' is then laid fiat ona-support, and the padis-pressed onto the toe piece 00 insueh a position that its nearly straightedge is in asclose proximity to theen'd of the vamp'y as possible, and its rounded edge is at a uniform distance from the edge-of the' to'epiec'e,-asindicated by the shaded area in Fig.5. As'the pad is pressed against the textile toe piece, the heated liquid will be expressed 'from the pad, and will flow into and-be absorbed by the 'toe piece, absorption thereby being made possible, because the portion thereof directly beneath thepad also becomes heated by the heat from the pad,so that-such porti'on becomes thoroughly saturatedthrougzfliout its/entire thickness. Asonly the "textile portion, Which is in direct contact with the pad, is heated, the liquid will not flow into and saturate the adjacent portion thereof,

this being prevented by the rapid cooling of the liquid, as it comesin contact with the unheated portion, so that practically only that portion of thejtip piece to which the pad is actually-appliedissaturated.

As the pad is atyall times' 'heated, -Wl1ll6 in use,to-a suiiicient -temperature to maintain the stiffeningmaterial in a :liquidista'te; this material will not accumulate thereon and if the casing-should happen to be dipped in the liquid,also, the'material will .be prevented from accumulating thereon, as the casing walls are heated to'a. point "above' the melting point of thezmaterial.

With the above described device, the op eration of saturating the textile toe pieces may be rapidly performed, as the operator merely has to-dip the pad in the liquid-and press it against a piece for a short "time, and then theoperation may be repeated-on the next piece.

We 'claim: 1. A device for saturating'a portion-of'an absorbent sheet with a stiffening substance,

which is liquid when heated above ordinary temperatures, and =hardens on cooling, composed of an absorbent pad having an engaging face shaped to correspond to the sheet 2. An implementfor saturating a portion of an absorbent sheet with a liquidsubstance which is self-hardening on cooling to ordi- Lnary ttemperatures, composed of an absorb- :ent pa d having a sheet-portion engaging face at its underside, andmea'ns for heating-saidpad :to maintain the substance absorbed thereby in a liquid state, and for simultaneously pressing-its face against the SllBQiPPOFtiOH to be saturated, to heat said sheet-portion and deliver the liquid substance thereto.

3..Anim plement forsaturatmg a portion ofan absorbent sheet, composed of a casing located in said recess and projecting at its having a bottom recess, an .absorbent pad withinthe casing above and in proximity,

ithereto, aas,. and for the purpose described.

at. A device forsaturating a portion of an absorbent sheet, with .a substance which is liquid when "hot, and a-sohd, or semi-solid, at ordinary temperatures, composed of a5.

holder, an absorbent pad of approximately "uniform thickness connected to the holder,

and lhavinga work-engaging face on its in engagement with approximately the en-..'

tire upper surface of the pad, and means for heating .said plate to heat the pad to the 'liquefiying temperature of the saturating, substance.

5. .An implement for saturating a portiom? of an absorbentsheet'with a substance which is a :solid, or semi-solid, .at ordinary tem peratures, and a liquid at higher tempera- In testimony whereof, we have signed our names to:thisspecification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

VILLIAM A. KNIFE. TIMOTHY .MCKINNEY.

Witnesses L. HARRIMAN, H. 13.. DAVIS.

Copies .of this patent maybe obtained'for fivecents each,-by-a.ddressing the commissionercffatents, Washington, I). C. 

